Tag: sermon

Introduction

As I was reading over the text in preparation for this message, the words of Jason Upton’s song, “The King’s Way” kept coming to my mind:

“There is a road/That leads to peace that leads to life/But few will followWe’re at the crossroad/Which way will we go”

This is where the title for this morning’s sermon comes from, and then the chorus says this:“There is not today a more holy way/Than the steps that lead me to the crossWhere my will can’t be the priority/And these crowns I’ve gained I count as lossWhen I hear the Spirit say/That this is the true King’s way”

As we come to the close of Malachi, God gives us another sign of grace by giving us an opportunity to aim for a higher standard of living. The priests have broken God’s commands, they have brought him blemished offerings, they have robbed and stolen from Him. Then finally God tells us in our passage the reward for the righteous and wrath for the wicked, but God doesn’t leave us there. He says, remember the law of Moses, and then he says, “I will send Elijah and he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers.”

So God says, “Here’s what the end is going to look like, but before it all comes to a head, I’m going to send you a messenger and he’s going to preach repentance so that you’ll have an opportunity to repent.”

With that being said, we’re going to look at the text under three headings: the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, the reward for the righteous and the wicked, and then the invitation from Malachi to remember the law.

The Distinction (3:16-18)

“Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord listened and heard them; so a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who meditate on His name. 17“They shall be Mine,” says the Lord of hosts, “On the day that I make them My jewels. And I will spare themas a man spares his own son who serves him.” 18Then you shall again discernbetween the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.” – Malachi 3:16-18, NKJV

As I read this text, the main idea that I see here is verse 18. God wants there to be division between the righteous and the wicked. Is it because God Himself can’t tell the difference? No, He intimately knows those who are His and those who are not.

According to Isaiah 49:16, God has His people inscribed on the palms of His hands. God is intimately aware of who His people are. So, it’s not for God’s knowledge that there needs to be a difference, it’s for the world’s.

We are witnesses to the world of the love and the holiness of God, and when we are selfish like these priests have been it blurs the lines.

Think about all the things they’ve done: they dishonored God with their offerings by bringing him lame and blemished offerings that they wouldn’t even serve to their governor, they’ve despised God’s name, they’ve broken covenant with each other, and they’ve robbed from God.

As I said last week, it was selfishness that got them into this mess and it will be selflessness that gets them out.

Up to this point, the line between the righteous and the wicked have been blurred, but now that God is acting in judgement, and calling His people to repentance, we will be able to see which is which.

When we don’t live consistent with our calling as Christians, when we don’t live consistent with our baptism then we blur the lines, and we destroy the distinction that the world needs to see so that they can see that there’s a difference between the people of God, and everybody else.

So, What’s the standard to tell between the righteous and the wicked. Go back to Malachi 3:5. As you’re looking back to that verse I want you to think about this: every time you see a negative command like a “you shall not do x” then there’s always a positive inverse. For example, when the Apostle Paul says “Let him who stole steal no more” he follows it up with the positive inverse which is, “instead let him work so that he has what he needs.” (Ephesians 4:28)

So, as we look at Malachi 3:5, we’re going to think about the positive inverse of these things:

“And I will come near you for judgment; I will be a swift witness against sorcerers,against adulterers, against perjurers, against those who exploit wage earners and widows and orphans, and against those who turn away an alien— because they do not fear Me,” says the Lord of hosts.” – Malachi 3:5, NKJV

Sorcerers – We have this image of what an actual sorcerer might look like. Someone dressed in all black, maybe wearing a funny hat, maybe he’s got a wand or something… but after all what’s a sorcerer? It’s someone that believes they can have a source of power outside of God.

To us, power is purpose. It’s what gets us out of bed in the morning. So, where does your purpose come from? Rick Warren wrote a book called, “The Purpose-Driven Life” and then he wrote another one called, “What on Earth Am I Here For?” I haven’t read either one of them. I’ve heard good reviews and I’ve heard bad reviews so I don’t know, but even with just those titles to those books Warren was on to something.

There’s something that drives and empowers everyone, and your drive, your purpose, and your power are not derived from your identity in Christ, then you’re not better than a sorcerer because you’re trying to seek fulfillment outside of God, and it will never work.

Adulterers – On the surface, I’m confident that no one here would fall into that category, but Jesus said that if you look upon a woman with lust in your heart, you’ve already committed adultery. That brings it close to home now doesn’t it?

Why is God bringing judgement on adulterers? It’s because they’re not content with the circumstances that God has placed them in. God has given them a wife, and a family because, as Malachi 2:15 says, God desires godly offspring, and yet, when someone goes out and neglects their covenant vows they show their discontent with the good things that God has given them, and it’s not just their discontent with those things either, but they also show their discontent with God.

Ultimately, that’s why we sin. Regardless of any sin we commit, big or small, sin of omission or sin or commission, we sin because we’re not content with the boundaries that God has set for our lives and we think we’ll be free if we escape those boundaries, but really we end up enslaving ourselves.

Purgerors – These are people who don’t value truth. So ask yourself, “Do I prefer the truth over lies.” Last Sunday night we watched a video where Ray Comfort talked to random people on the street in an effort to evangelize to them, and he asked several of them, “Have you ever told a lie?” and the majority of them had said that they had. I mentioned earlier that if you’re a believer, and you live as if you’re not, then you’re living a lie.

In Psalm 51:6, David acknowledges that God desires “truth in the inward parts.” In 2 Thessalonians 2:10, the Apostle Paul speaks against those who do not love the truth so the positive inverse is that we should love the truth.

As Christians we should love the truth and value what is true even if it’s hard for us to accept. Truth is real, truth is tangible. You can hold on to what is true, but lies vanish and they disappear.

Then finally, notice the last group of people that Malachi 3:5 addresses: “those who exploit wage earners and widows and orphans, and against those who turn away an alien— because they do not fear Me,” says the Lord of hosts.”

There’s four groups of people mentioned, the widows, the orphans, the foreigners, the workers.

Basically, this comes down to how you treat people who are not as privileged as you are. Most of us are working class citizens and we like the idea of helping widows and orphans, but what about foreigners?

Do you see people who come over here from other countries made in the image of God or do you see them as some insect that needs to be exterminated?

“How I treat a brother or a sister from day to day, how I react to the sin scared wino in the street, how I respond to the interruptions of people I dislike, how I deal with normal people in their normal confusion on a normal day may be a better indication of my reverence for life than the anti-abortion sticker on the bumper of my car.” – Brennan Manning

Think about the logic of the Apostle James. In James 1:27, he says that pure and true religion is to care for widows and orphans, and then he devotes the first part of chapter 2 to not mistreating those who are poorer in your community, and then he defends the idea that faith without works is dead.

So, what are the works that prove that your faith isn’t dead? Is little pinty-anty things like not cursing if you hit your hand with a hammer or is it feeding someone who is hungry? Is it not smoking or is allowing someone who is hard of hearing to have your seat on the front row?

The logic of James is this: if your faith is legitimate, then it will be expressed in how you treat people who also share the image of God.

Your faith isn’t determined by what party you vote for, but rather by how much patience you have for the elderly man in front of you at the gas station who has to have the cashier fill out his check for his gas because he can’t read.

That’s where the distinction lies between the righteous and the wicked, and when we faith to live out our faith then blur the lines.

The Reward (4:1-3)

“For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, and all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up,” says the Lord of hosts, “That will leave them neither root nor branch. 2But to you who fear My name the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings; and you shall go out and grow fat like stall-fed calves. 3You shall trample the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day that I do this,” says the Lord of hosts.” – Malachi 4:1-3, NKJV

Society tries to tell us that it’s not politically correct to label people or categorize them, but the reality of the situation is that they’re already labeled or categorized by God based on whether or not they’ve repented and believed the Gospel.

There are those fear God and revere His name, but then there are those who don’t. There is no middle or neutral ground.

When Jesus was hanging on the cross, bearing the sins of the world upon Himself, He Himself hung there at the perfect spotless lamb of God who had become sin, He had become shame, He had become guilt, and in that moment He stood in the divide between those honor and serve God, and those who do not, and this was represented perfectly by the fact that on one side a man who had nothing to offer yet all he asked was that Jesus remember Him when He came into His kingdom, and yet on the other side was man who wanted Jesus to just shut up.

And so, Jesus being very God of very God, as one confession said; Jesus being God incarnate, taking the sins of the world on Himself has the right to cast judgement on those, like the one thief wanted Him to just shut up.

The Reward for the Repentant is God remembers them. The penitent thief asked that Christ remember Him when He came into His kingdom, and we just read in Malachi 3:16-17 that God remembers those who fear Him and revere His name. This very last act of His life was one of fear and reverence for Christ as the Living God, and Jesus remembered Him because He promised, “Today, you will be with me in paradise.” And so on that day when God makes up His jewels, the thief will be there, but will we?

Another reward for the repentant is that they will be the ones that go forth and prosper as stall-fed calves, and they will be the ones who inherit the earth, and according to our passage, “trample the wicked.”

I think one commentator explained this beautifully when he talked about the picture that’s being painted in Malachi 4:1-3.

“God’s action in destroying the wicked in the day of judgment is pictured in the illustration of a farmer burning off his field after he has harvested his grain. The righteous are likened to the farmer’s calves, which were previously tied up in the dark stalls but are now set free. They burst forth to go leaping and skipping over the recently burnt-off fields. As the sun shines down upon them it brings healing and vigour into their lives of newfound joy and freedom (4:1-3).”[1]

This is an eschatological picture. This is what life will look like when Jesus comes back and makes all things right, and completely unravels all the evil and wickedness in the world.

The Reward for the Rebellious is that they will be the ones who will be trampled on. They will be the ones who will become ash and stubble.

There is coming a day where God will separate the sheep from the goats, the wheat from the chaff, and that’s when the real distinction will be made, and it’s up to God to make that kind of distinction, not us. We’re too biased and subjective to make those kinds of decisions. God’s judgement is always fair and judicial. Ours isn’t.

The Invitation (4:4-6)

But, here’s the good news, like any good preacher Malachi doesn’t just leave us with judgement. He presents us with a solution to the problem. The problem is that our sin and rebellion have separated us from God, but what’s the solution?

“Remember the Law of Moses, My servant, which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. 5Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. 6And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.” – Malachi 4:4-6, NKJV

In this last group of verses beginning at verse 4, Malachi says, “remember the law of Moses.”

This is where it’s important to understand that Christ didn’t come to do away with the law, but to fulfill it. If Christ did away with the law, then we can just ignore this part of Scripture and go on with our lives.

Since Christ fulfills the law, then Malachi is actually pointing us to Christ.

“But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, 36“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”37Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38This is the first and great commandment. 39And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” – Matthew 22:34-40, NKJV

Telling us to remember the law points us to Christ as the Lawgiver, and to the summary of every law that was ever given – love God, and love your neighbor.

This is where the priests in Malachi failed. They failed to love God by dishonoring Him, showing contempt for His table, and profaning His name, then they failed to love each other by breaking covenant with one another, lying to each other, and divorcing their wives for pagan women.

So, when we remember the law we’re not going back to the judicial laws or the ceremonial laws, we’re remembering that we have a responsibility to love God, and love each other. And when we actually love God, and love each other rightly, we’re doing what the priests were not doing.

The next thing God says is in verse 5 – “I will send you Elijah the Prophet.”

What does Elijah do? He proclaims the word of God. Now, we know in the New Testament that this was fulfilled with the coming of John the Baptist.

Elijah and John the Baptist both stood before political leaders and held them accountable to God’s moral law.

Both of them were forerunners: Elijah was the forerunner of Elisha, John the Baptist is the Forerunner of Christ.

Both of them were discouraged: Elijah wanted to die when Jezebel came up against him. John the Baptist was in prison and questioned whether or not Jesus was really the Messiah or if he should look for another.

In discouragement both were encouraged: God sent an angel to Elijah to feed him and encourage him. Jesus said there was none born of woman greater than John the Baptist.

The similarities could go on, but if we’re reading this last part of Malachi, what’s the practical meaning for us, now in the 21st century?

Elijah represents the word of God proclaimed and applied. And according to this prophecy in verse 6, “he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, the hearts of children to their fathers.”

When the word of God is rightly applied to someone’s life it not only heals them internally and spiritually, but that internal healing manifests itself in restored relationships. When you see that God’s love for you is personal and that He is willing to forgive Your sin that you can be in relationship with Him, then that should motivate us to forgive the sins of others.

God doesn’t just ignore our wounds, He addresses them with the healing power of His word. That’s why Psalm 107:20 speaks of God acting on behalf of the children of Israel and it says, “He sent forth His word and healed them.”

Have you ever poured alcohol into a wound? You know how badly it stings? It stings because it’s working. Two illustrations come to mind:

My stepdad is gone to be with Jesus now, but years ago I remember him telling me about living in Iowa and they would get 2 to 3 feet of snow and all the kids would get together and go sledding. Well, he gets on this sled that they had just threw together and made out of some old scrap metal, and as he going down hill picks up speed and he sees that he’s about to go into a fence, but he couldn’t turn it in time, and to make matters worse, the sled had hit a rock that was covered up by the snow so the sled hits the rock, and it threw him into this barbed wire fence.

He’s got a few cuts and scrapes, so he thought he was okay until he looked down and noticed that a hunk of flesh had about 7 inches long had been ripped from his calf. The kids put him on the sled because he couldn’t walk, and they pulled back to his house.

The nearest doctor was 20 miles away in town and there was no way they could get to the hospital or that a doctor could get to them in that snow so his dad did the only thing he knew to do, he gave him rag to bite, and said, “Boy, I’m not gonna lie to you, this is gonna hurt.” and then he pulls out a bottle of Jack Daniels whiskey and poured it in that gash.

My stepdad said that it was worst pain he ever felt in his life, but he knew that if he didn’t go through it, then he probably would’ve gotten an infection and died.

Good Will Hunting. It’s about a kid that’s been abused and Robin Williams is playing as his therapist, and as they’re speaking about all his relationships that have gone wrong, and how his dad abused him, his therapist says, “It’s not your fault,” and first he responds cooly and collectively, but his therapist keeps saying it over and over again, “It’s not your fault, it’s not your fault.” Finally, the kid breaks down and starts balling because the wound was opened up and someone finally applied some medicine to where it really hurt.

If you’ve taken nothing else from Malachi, I want you to understand this: God always pours His word directly into your wounds for the purpose of healing you, even if those wounds are self-inflicted. That’s why God says in Hosea 14:4, “I will heal their backsliding.”

I’m going to pray for us this morning, and if you need healing, God is waiting to heal you. It doesn’t matter if the wound is physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual. God is in the business putting broken people back together.

Closing Prayer

Heavenly Father, Your Word is a lamp to our feet, and a light to our path, it shows us where we are, and where we’re going. Your Word is sharper than any two edged dividing asunder between the marrow and the bone and even the soul and the spirit. Father, this morning I ask that You take Your Word and heal us with it. Apply the medicine where it hurts, and let us leave this place changed by Your love, Your goodness, and Your mercy. In the name of Jesus Christ who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Introduction

Last week, we talked about what it means to honor God in response to His love for us. This morning, we’re going to talk about the idea of faithfulness, and we’re going to ask the question, “Where is our faithfulness?”

Now, you might be asking, “Where in the world did that Revelation passage come from?” I read that passage first because I don’t want us to make any mistake about who this word in Malachi 2 is addressed to. When we read passages like this we might be tempted to say, “That’s not for us today, that was for that group of people there in that distant place in time and history.” But, make no mistake that God’s word always has practical application for us.

It’s true that this was first addressed to priests who worked in the temple under the old administration of the covenant, but here and now, under this new covenant this word applies to us who are called to be priests unto God.

So, with that I want us to first examination, The Job Description or Occupation of Priests, and then I want us to see how the priests broke covenant with God, and broke covenant with one another.

The Occupation of Priests

In the Old Testament you had the High Priest, and then you have the priests who served under the high priest. The High Priest was the one who went into the Holy of Holies and sprinkled blood on the altar. Christ fulfills the office of High Priest for us, but we are like these priests that served under the High Priest. Priests had two main functions: they were to serve God, and they were to serve others by being the go-between point for God and man. They’re function was to draw near to God, and to bear God’s people before God.

So, what does this mean for us?

Over and over again, the Bible says that we are a “holy priesthood” and “a royal priesthood” (1 Peter 2:5-9). Revelation 5:9-10 says that Christ has purchased us and made us to be “a kingdom and priests serving our God, and [we] will reign on earth.”

Our ultimate function as the holy priesthood of God is to serve God, and serve others by doing what the priests of the Old Testament did and present others to God, and we do that with our witness, with our testimony, with the gifts that God has given us for the edification of the body of Christ.

We are the priests who point to our High Priest, Jesus Christ, as He bore the weight our sins on Himself. And so, that’s our job. We are priests unto God, telling of His goodness to others, and Malachi 2 deals with not only the failures of those priests, but our failures to be the priests that God has called us to be.

As I stated last week, this is hard. This is weighty, but we shouldn’t hear the voice of condemnation because that’s not what God intends for us. Verse 4 even tells us, “I have sent this command to you that my covenant may hold.” Instead, we should hear the voice of conviction calling us to a higher and better standard of living.

Priests Who Break Covenant with God (v. 1-9)

God Deals with Priestly Failure

“And now, O priests, this command is for you. 2If you will not listen, if you will not lay it to heart to give glory to my name, says the Lord of hosts, then I will send the curse on you… – Malachi 2:1-2a, NRSV

So many times we come to church and we hear the Word of God preached, and we hear the Word of God taught in Sunday School, and it goes in one hear and out the other. We listen, but we don’t lay it to heart, and God is telling us that listening isn’t enough, the Word must applied to our hearts if it’s going to do us any good.

And then God goes on to tell us the details of the curse. This is how God deals with priestly failure. Keep in mind, we read in chapter 1 that God would rather close the doors on the temple, then to have them come in and kindle fire on His altar in vain. So, this how God starts the process of closing the doors on the temple.

“and I will curse your blessings; indeed I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart.” – Malachi 2:2b, NRSV

What do you think it means that God actually curses their blessings?

Numbers 6:24-27 is traditional priestly benediction:

“The Lord bless you and keep you;25the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you;26the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.27So they shall put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.” – Numbers 6:24-27, NRSV

If God curses the blessing of the priests when they give that benediction then it does the exact opposite, and they might as well be saying this:

May the Lord curse you, and abandon you!May the Lord keep you in darkness, and hide His face from you!May the Lord give you only judgement and torment instead of grace and peace!

And that’s what the priests brought on themselves by not taking God’s word, and laying it to heart. We would save ourselves a lot of trouble in life if we take God’s word and lay it to heart.

So, God deals with priestly failure by taking their blessings and turning them to curses, but He also takes their pride and turns it to shame.

“I will rebuke your offspring, and spread dung on your faces, the dung of your offerings, and I will put you out of my presence.” – Malachi 2:3, NRSV

God isn’t just saying this as a some kind of shock factor. By threatening them in this way, if God were to actually spread the dung of their offerings on their faces, this would disqualify them from priestly service in the temple. They’ve already disqualified themselves in ways that are less visible, but this would make it plain to the world that these men who made vows before God are shameful covenant breakers.

This is why we must grieve over our sin. If you grieve over your sin, then you’re in a good place because that’s the place where God can show grace, mercy, and forgiveness, but if you’re like these priests who act as if they have no sin, then you make God a liar and the truth is not in you. That’s 1 John 1:8 – “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”

By threatening to expose and disqualify the priests, God is saying on no uncertain terms that He would rather have no priests than unfaithful priests.

God doesn’t need us. You’ve heard me say before that God isn’t like Greek gods of the pantheon that required worshippers to stay in existence. All men can be liars and deceivers and yet God will still be true. His word will still be the standard of truth and morality, even if every individual decides to follow the course of this world all the way to hell in a handbasket.

God turns their blessings into curses, and He turns their pride into shame, and He does the same thing with us. No one ever really prospers without God. We catch people like King David and the prophet Jeremiah saying all through the Scriptures, “Why do the wicked prosper?”

“For I envied the proud when I saw them prosper despite their wickedness.” – Psalm 73:3, NLT

“LORD, you always give me justice when I bring a case before you. So let me bring you this complaint: Why are the wicked so prosperous? Why are evil people so happy?” – Jeremiah 12:1, NLT

The truth is that the wicked only look like they’re prospering. They might have houses, and cars, and land, but they’ve always got to have one more car, one more house, just one more piece of land. It’s never enough. And one day, God will call them to account.

If you look verses 4 through 7, we’ll see God’s standard for priestly success.

God’s Standard for Priestly Success

“Know, then, that I have sent this command to you, that my covenant with Levi may hold, says the Lord of hosts. 5My covenant with him was a covenant of life and well-being, which I gave him; this called for reverence, and he revered me and stood in awe of my name. 6True instruction was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me in integrity and uprightness, and he turned many from iniquity. 7For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.” – Malachi 2:4-7, NRSV

I think verses 4 and 5 are profound.

In verse 4, God explicitly states that the whole reason for this command is that His covenant would hold, and then God goes on in verse 5 to tell us what the covenant means. He says, “My covenant with him was a covenant of life and well-being.”

This is God’s intent every time He chastens us. The end of Hebrews 12:10 tells us God disciplines us for a time “that we may share His holiness.”

“Now, discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” – Hebrews 12:11, NRSV

Every time you read the word and it convicts you, every time you hear the Word taught or preached and it convicts you, it’s for the intention that you would see fruits of righteousness in your life. And This is what God is doing here in Malachi 2. He’s not being mean and spiteful. He’s disciplining the priests so that they meet the standard that God sets for them. He’s wanting them to fit this picture of priestly success in Malachi 2:5-6:

He revered me and stood in awe of my name.

True instruction was in his mouth, no wrong on His lips.

He walked with me in integrity

He turned many from iniquity.

If you’re keeping your Bible open and following along, I want you to notice that these things that God is saying that makes up a good priest, these things follow a pattern.

He revered me, stood in awe of My name (relationship to God)

True instruction, no wrong on his lips (relationship to others)

He walked with me in integrity (relationship to God)

He turned many from iniquity (relationship to others)

What does tell us the two greatest commandments are: Love God, love others, in that order. That’s where moral failure begins to be formed. Moral failure is always birthed in the place where we fail to love and honor God the way we should. So, when the Hebrew priests start breaking the marriage covenant with their Hebrew wives so that can marry idol-worshipping Palestinian wives, it’s not because one day the priest woke up and said, “Today, I’m going to leave my wife and go find a nice looking pagan girl,” it’s because they began being unfaithful to God, and when you’re relationship with God is terrible your relationship with others will follow.

When you start loving God for what He can give you, you’ll start loving others for what they can give you.

If your relationship with God is centered around you (your wants, your needs, “me, me, me”), then your relationships with others will be the same way. That’s not the way a priest unto God is supposed to act.

And this is how the priests break covenant with each other. Notice verse 10.

Priests Who Break Covenant with One Another (v. 10-17)

“Have we not all one father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our ancestors?”– Malachi 2:10, NRSV

Notice that Malachi is trying to reason with them. He’s says, “Listen, we’re all sons of God here. We’re in the family, and if we’re in the family, then why are we faithless to each other? Why do we not keep our covenants with one another?”

“And this you do as well: You cover the Lord’s altar with tears, with weeping and groaning because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor at your hand. 14You ask, “Why does he not?” Because the Lord was a witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant.”– Malachi 2:13-14, NRSV

Remember last week, we said that there were severe consequences to half-hearted repentance. And this is what Malachi 1 was saying. Jesus even tells us in Matthew 5 that if we have ought with our brother we give our gifts at the altar. We have to leave our gift there, patch things up, and then give our gift.

It’s not that you don’t have the ability to repent until you make your relationships right, it’s that you have to demonstrate that your repentance is genuine. If you’re repentance is genuine, you’ll want to be faithful in your relationships to others because God has been faithful to you.

This is what Malachi is saying in verse 13. We’re good at being religious and playing the part, and we wonder, “Why isn’t God blessing us? Doesn’t He see us sit in the pew on Sunday morning, doesn’t he see how many chapters I write down on the little piece of paper that gets passed around in Sunday School? Doesn’t God see how much I put in the offering plate?”

Sure, God sees all of those things, but He also sees the grudges we’ve held, he sees the covenants we’ve broken, he hears the lies we’ve told, he hears the rumors we’ve passed around. So, we might ask like the priests, “Why does he not accept our offering?” It’s because he was a witness to all the covenants we‘ve made, and not fulfilled.

“Did not one God make her? Both flesh and spirit are his. And what does the one God desire? Godly offspring. So look to yourselves, and do not let anyone be faithless to the wife of his youth. 16For I hate divorce, says the Lord, the God of Israel, and covering one’s garment with violence, says the Lord of hosts. So take heed to yourselves and do not be faithless.”– Malachi 2:15-16, NRSVThis is the passage where a lot of preachers will get off on a tangent about divorce, but the problem is that while yes, God hates divorce, you have to keep two things in mind:

God hates divorce, but He does not hate those who divorce. There are sometimes legitimate reasons for a divorce. Jesus says in Matthew 5:31-32 that sexual immorality is a legitimate reason for divorce.

The other thing we have to realize is that this passage isn’t primarily about divorce. It’s about breaking covenants with God, and with others. Ecclesiastes 5:5 says that it is better that it is better to not make a vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it, but when other people are involved with the vow, like in the case of a marriage, and you break that marriage vow, you have broken covenant with God as well as your spouse.

Your sin doesn’t just affect you, it affects others. Divorce in biblical times was a lot different than it is now. Women now have opportunities available to them that they didn’t have in biblical times. They didn’t have the opportunity to work like men did. When woman was married she was taken out of her home, and her husband to provide everything for her, but if her husband divorced her, and it put her out of his home, it was a sentence of death. She had nowhere to go.

She had to go into prostitution or die, those were her options. So, divorce means, “I want you dead.” And so, what would lead a priest to do this?

“The practice of deserting and divorcing Hebrew women for the purpose of marrying non-Hebrew women was probably motivated by economics, since intermarriage was a requisite for entering the well-established mercantile guilds of postexilic Palestine already in place when the Hebrews returned from exile.” – NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible

The motivation was money, power, and not even that much money and power. It was just enough so that they could do business. They compromised. And in Revelation, that’s what the mark of the beast is about. If you don’t have this mark, you can’t buy sell, or trade.

And you might say “Well, we don’t live in those times, yet.” I would argue that we do. It may not be a literal mark that we’re dealing, but does the phrase, “Bake the cake” sound familiar? It’s the same thing.

Unless you compromise your covenant with God, you can’t do business in the economy of the world. We have these temptations all around us. We don’t’ have to be business owners to see the kinds of things that await us when we get out of bed every morning.

Verse 17. We’re about to wrap it up.

“You have wearied the Lord with your words. Yet you say, “How have we wearied him?” By saying, “All who do evil are good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them.” Or by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”– Malachi 2:17, NRSV

This is the last accusation in this chapter. Many commentators and preachers connect this to chapter 3, and I suppose you could, but I feel like this is a big picture summary of the whole book of Malachi.

This is not just a big picture summary of Malachi, but it’s root of all of our problems. When we try to bless what God has cursed, and curse what God has blessed, then we take the order that God has established and turn it to chaos.

Conclusion

We weary God when justify our sin. The way we justify our sin is by putting it on the back burner and saying that it’s no big deal. We minimize it. When we see that we have sin in our lives we know we have to deal with it so that it puts the balance of our lives back in order, and we can deal with it two ways: we can justify our sin or God can justify us.

If we justify ourselves, then we end up just minimizing our sin. We never actually get rid of it. We can never actually separate ourselves from our sin, we only try to control it, and contain it.

But if God justifies us, he can actually take our sin and separate it from us. And when He does that, He lays it on Christ, and in exchange for your sin you get righteousness.

So, ultimately, when we justify ourselves, not only do we weary God, but we weary ourselves. We wear ourselves out trying to control and contain something that we can’t actually get rid of. When you have a disease would you rather just get rid of the disease or would rather treat the symptoms until the disease finally kills you?

If God justifies you, then your sin is somewhere else, and you have Christ’s righteousness in its place. Today, faith and repentance are yours. The righteousness of Christ is yours. The bread and the fruit of the vine that we took earlier are yours. So, I’m going pray for us the same prayer that I prayed over us last week, and if you need prayer for anything, these altars open and our elders are here to pray with you.

Closing Prayer

Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.

Introduction

Our passage isn’t easy to digest. It’s hard, it’s convicting, but it’s also necessary. It’s like in Revelation 10 when John takes the scroll from the angel and eats it, it’s sweet to his lips, but it’s bitter to his stomach. This first chapter in Malachi might be bitter when it’s applied because it’ll touch our sin on a personal level, but when it’s all said and done, it is sweet because it draws us closer to God.

We start out the passage by seeing that this is an oracle, but if you’re reading from the King James, then you’ll see that instead of the word ‘oracle,’ the word ‘burden’ is used, and I think this is significant because the interaction that follows between God and His people is weighty.

The entire book of Malachi follows a distinct pattern: there’s a declaration made by God, then there’s a question posed by the people – “How have we done x,” then God makes a defense and an explanation of his accusation against them. Almost the entire book follows this pattern.

As we look at the text this morning, I want to us to see two main ideas. We needs to first of all, God’s Abundance of Love, and Our Lack of Honor.

God’s Abundance of Love

In the first five verses there are three ideas in this section that I want us to see: first, God’s Love Declared, then we see that God’s Love is Doubted, and then we’ll look how God’s Love is Displayed.

God’s Love Declared

“I have loved you, says the Lord. But you say, “How have you loved us?” Is not Esau Jacob’s brother? says the Lord. Yet I have loved Jacob.” – Malachi 1:2, NRSV

What does this mean? The people whom Malachi is addressing is are descendants of Jacob. Jacob and Esau were brothers, and even though Esau was the older brother, God chose to set his love on Jacob. So, this is what God is saying:

My love for you is electing love because I chose you for myself above your brother Esau.

My love for you is unconditional love because I chose you before you had done anything good or evil—before you had met any conditions—while you were still in your mother’s womb.

“Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. 22The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord. 23The Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.” – Genesis 25:21-23, NIV

“Even before they had been born or had done anything good or bad (so that God’s purpose of election might continue, 12not by works but by his call) she was told, “The elder shall serve the younger.” 13As it is written, “I have loved Jacob, but I have hated Esau.” – Romans 9:11-13, NRSV

My love for you is sovereign love because I was under no constraint to love you; I was not forced or coerced; I was totally in charge when I set my love upon you.

And my love for you is free because it’s the overflow of my infinite grace that can never be bought. [1]

All of these qualities of God’s love have bestowed to us freely in Christ.

And yet, in spite of all of this, in spite of the fact that God has divine purpose and plan for His people, His love is still doubted.

God’s Love is Doubted

They still say in the middle of verse 2, “How have you loved us?”

Think about all the ways in which we have doubted God’s love. He has blessed us. Listen, there are things in your life that you just don’t get a say in. You don’t get a say in what language you learn as a child. You don’t get a say in what country you’re born in, you don’t get a choice in what culture you get raised in.

And God has arranged all of these things in your life that you live in a relatively prosperous culture, you were raised learning to speak one of the most difficult languages to learn. You live in a nation with a relatively decent amount of personal freedoms compared to other nations.

You might say, “Well, our freedoms are slowly being taken away.” Who cares! Be thankful for what God has given you now, in the present. God didn’t promise you a bill of rights. He promised you blessing if you do what is right, and a curse if you don’t do what is right.

Rights or not, we can confidently say with the psalmist, “With the Lord on my side I do not fear. What can mortals do to me? The Lord is on my side to help me; I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.” (Psalm 118:6-7, NRSV)

Some of you have had really hard lives growing up, but it could have been worse, and the reason it wasn’t worse is because God personally loves you, and cares for you. I would even say that God actually likes you. He doesn’t just put up with you because of a contract that He has with Jesus. God has placed His love on you and one day you will be joyously brought before Him.

“Now to him who is able to keep you from falling, and to make you stand without blemish in the presence of his glory with rejoicing,” – Jude 24, NRSV

He rejoices to save us, to sanctify, and He will, with rejoicing, escort us into His presence.

Yet, in spite of all of this we still doubt sometimes.

And it’s the same voice that told Eve, “you will not die” that tells us, “God doesn’t love you, God didn’t really save you.” “It doesn’t matter how much you ask for forgiveness, you will die in your sin.” It’s that condemning voice that causes us to doubt.

So, God goes on to explain in more explicit terms exactly what He means.

God’s Love is Displayed

“but I have hated Esau; I have made his hill country a desolation and his heritage a desert for jackals. 4If Edom says, “We are shattered but we will rebuild the ruins,” the Lord of hosts says: They may build, but I will tear down, until they are called the wicked country, the people with whom the Lord is angry forever. 5Your own eyes shall see this, and you shall say, “Great is the Lord beyond the borders of Israel!” – Malachi 1:3-5, NRSV

We see passages like this, and first inclination is to say, “That’s not fair.”

Why does God place this kind of love and care on Jacob and his lineage and not on Esau and his people? Paul gives a commentary on this passage when he writes Romans 9.

“It is not as though the word of God had failed. For not all Israelites truly belong to Israel, 7and not all of Abraham’s children are his true descendants; but “It is through Isaac that descendants shall be named for you.” 8This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as descendants. 9For this is what the promise said, “About this time I will return and Sarah shall have a son.” 10Nor is that all; something similar happened to Rebecca when she had conceived children by one husband, our ancestor Isaac. 11Even before they had been born or had done anything good or bad (so that God’s purpose of election might continue, 12not by works but by his call) she was told, “The elder shall serve the younger.” 13As it is written,“I have loved Jacob, but I have hated Esau.”14What then are we to say? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! 15For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”16So it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who shows mercy.”

– Romans 9:6-16, NRSV

When we look at Malachi 1 and Romans 9, and we say, “It’s not fair. God should show this kind of mercy to everyone,” what we’re saying is that God owes it to them. No one is owed mercy.

Remember 2 Corinthians 4:1-6. I won’t read, I’ll let you look it up on your own. But when we say, “It’s not fair.” We’re saying that someone who chooses to be blinded by the god of this world deserves sight, and that’s not the case. When God gives sight to blind, when God gives life to the dead, when God grants us repentance and faith, it’s not because He owes it to us, it’s because His grace is more powerful than our sin.

His kindness to us is more more powerful than our desire to rebel against Him.

God displays His kindness in His electing love that He has placed on us by the atoning blood of His son. And so, we see God’s abundance of love, but what about our lack of honor?

Our Lack of Honor

If we continue on in Malachi 1, we’ll see that there’s three ways that God is not shown the honor that’s due him:

God’s Name is Despised

“A son honors his father, and servants their master. If then I am a father, where is the honor due me? And if I am a master, where is the respect due me? says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. You say, “How have we despised your name?” – Malachi 1:6, NRSV

What’s the accusation here? God is actually accusing them of breaking the 3rd commandment.

“You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.” – Exodus 20:7, NRSV

If you think this is simply an issue of saying God’s name when you curse, you’re not going deep enough. God’s name is His identity. So, taking His name in vain isn’t necessarily about taking the verbal usage of His name lightly (although we shouldn’t do that either), it’s about taking His character and His identity lightly.

See, now the 3rd commandment isn’t so manageable when we see it like that, and that’s good because it’s opportunity to see God’s grace and forgiveness at work in our lives.

We have a problem of not seeing the big picture when it comes to the Bible. We’ll get into Malachi 3 later, but if you think Malachi 3 is simply about giving your 10% to the church, you’re mistaken. The big picture of Malachi 3 is giving to what God what’s due, and what’s due to God is honor, not in the form of lip service, but in the form of tithes that go into the storehouse to feed the hungry, and clothe the naked.

God’s law always has a big picture application to our lives, but we want to break it down into manageable pieces so that we can have checklist, mark off the things we’re supposed to do, and make sure we don’t do the things we’re not supposed to do, but the problem is that if you can manage God’s law, all of it, then you don’t need Jesus.

This is what Paul says in Galatians, if righteousness could come through the law, then it would, but it doesn’t, so it can’t. Righteousness comes by grace through faith in Christ apart from works of the law. (Romans 3:20; Galatians 2:16)

So, what does it mean that they have despised God’s name, and what does it mean when we despise God’s name? Now, that the 3rd commandment isn’t as manageable as we thought it was, what are the ways that we despise God’s name? How do we doubt His character and His identity?

If we keep going in Malachi 1, one of the ways that God’s people despised His name was through their offerings. So, they ask, “How have we despised your name?” And this is the answer God gives.

God’s Altar is Polluted

“By offering polluted food on my altar. And you say, “How have we polluted it?” By thinking that the Lord’s table may be despised. 8When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not wrong? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not wrong? Try presenting that to your governor; will he be pleased with you or show you favor? says the Lord of hosts.” – Malachi 1:7-8, NRSV

God’s people had the audacity to come into God’s house and bring their lame, their broken, and blemished animals to God.

You can’t give your leftovers to God, and think He’s going to let you live in His favor. We don’t do animal sacrifices anymore. So, what does this mean for us as the New Testament church? It means that we’re the offering.

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” – Romans 12:1, NIV

This is about your attitude in worship. This is about your attitude in service to God. Do you give yourself wholeheartedly to God, and to the service of His people or do you give the bare minimum of yourself?

We can’t separate our attitude toward God from how we offer ourselves to Him.

“Contempt for the Lord’s Table is contempt for the Lord of the table.” [2]– Peter J. Leithart, Blessed Are the Hungry

So, what this means is that everytime we refuse God the wholehearted worship that He deserves we actually show contempt for Him. That’s not an easy thing to come to terms with, that there’s actually a part of you that wants to rebel against God, but it’s the flesh, it’s the sin nature. It’s why the writer of the hymn says, “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love. Here’s my heart, Lord, take and seal it, seal it to thy courts above.”

This is where we need to pray, “Seal my heart, Lord.” Because if God seals our hearts with the seal of the Holy Spirit, then we’re never going to wander so far that He can’t bring us back.

We’ve seen how God’s name is despised, and God’s altar is polluted, but here’s where we finally see that our godless, ritualistic service is denounced.

Godless Service is Denounced

“And now implore the favor of God, that he may be gracious to us. The fault is yours. Will he show favor to any of you? says the Lord of hosts. 10Oh, that someone among you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not kindle fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hands. 11For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name is great among the nations, and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure offering; for my name is great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts. 12But you profane it when you say that the Lord’s table is polluted, and the food for it may be despised. 13“What a weariness this is,” you say, and you sniff at me, says the Lord of hosts. You bring what has been taken by violence or is lame or sick, and this you bring as your offering! Shall I accept that from your hand? says the Lord. 14Cursed be the cheat who has a male in the flock and vows to give it, and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished; for I am a great King, says the Lord of hosts, and my name is reverenced among the nations.” – Malachi 1:9-14, NRSV

I just read that from the NRSV, but I’m not sure if you can really see the meaning of verse 9. So, I’ll read verse 9 again this time from the New King James.

“But now entreat God’s favor, that He may be gracious to us. While this is being done by your hands, will He accept you favorably? Says the Lord of hosts.”– Malachi 1:9, NKJV

There are severe consequences for believing that you can flippantly ignore God’s call to repentance.

Malachi wants us to call on God because he encourages us, “entreat God’s favor because He will be gracious,” but the prophet also wants us to understand what that means because he says, “While this is being done, will He accept you favorably?” Saying, “God, I’m sorry” while your fingers are crossed behind your back doesn’t work. The New Living Translation says, “when you bring that kind of offering, why should he show you any favor at all?” (Malachi 1:9, NLT)

God actually goes on to say, in verse 10, that He wishes that someone would shut the door of the temple so that they would not kindle fire on His altar in vain.

God would rather us close doors at Mount Carmel than to have us come in here and think that we can slide by on half hearted worship.

The close of this chapter ends with God reminding us of who He is. Notice the end of verse 14, “…I am a great King, says the Lord of hosts, and my name is reverenced among the nations.” God made a promise that He would always have a remnant. He would always have a people that worshipped Him in Spirit and truth. Even in the midst of a great falling away, there would still be a people who loved God, and worshipped Him with their whole heart. The question is: will it be us or will be those give God what’s left?

Conclusion

If you go back to verse one, you’ll notice that Malachi doesn’t get the traditional introduction to prophetic office, “The word of the Lord came to Malachi…” Instead, we get simply, “An oracle.” But the King James calls this a burden. It’s a heavy word that’s been given to Malachi, and like all heavy things, to carry it you have to get completely under it. But, unlike a couch or a heavy box, there’s no way you can lift with your legs to avoid hurting your back. There’s no easy way to take a word from the Lord that says, “You have despised my name, you’ve polluted my altar, and you have shown me no honor.”

It’s going to be heavy on your heart, it’s going to pour over your soul like any a burden should, but there’s good news. Jesus has taken your faithlessness, your rebellion, and your lack of honor, and He has nailed those things to His cross, and they did rise from the tomb with Him. And He did it, not because you’re good or because you’re worth it, but because He desires for you to become His righteousness.

“For our sake [God] made him [Christ] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” – 2 Corinthians 5:21, ESV, brackets added

I know that every week I say that these altars are open, but I really mean that. These altars aren’t just a place where we come and pray gently for our prayer needs for 3-5 minutes every Sunday, this is a real place where you can approach a real God with your real sin, and in exchange for your sin, He will give you His righteousness.

In the Book of Common Prayer, there is a prayer for confession of sin, and I want to pray that prayer over us today, and as we sing, know that the gifts of faith and repentance are yours in Christ.

Closing Prayer

Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ,have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen. [3]

At my home church, I preach on the third Sunday night of every month, and every other Wednesday. And since my pastor isn’t really the sermon series kinda guy (which is perfectly fine for his style of preaching), I’ve decided that I’m going to use my preaching dates as opportunity to try my first shot at preaching an advent series.

In case you couldn’t already tell my inspiration for the title “So, This is Christmas” comes from the opening lines of John Lennon’s 1971 Christmas hit, “Happy Xmas (War is Over).”

When this song came out it was an anthem for peace in the UK and eventually the song got more popular over the years, and The Fray has even recorded a cover of it (which is fantastic by the way, check it out here).

What I really want to do in this series is give us a reminder that Jesus really is the reason for the season. In reality, that should be the goal of every advent series. As a matter of fact, the goal of your preaching (regardless of where you are in the Church calendar) should be to exalt Christ and present the Gospel. I think so often we’re trying to come up with original ideas for our preaching. “Maybe I can present this new idea or that new idea.” “Maybe, I can try a different approach.” While creativity in a sermon series isn’t a bad thing, it can become a bad thing when we make the focus all about how ‘original’ we are instead of how good God is. In reality there’s nothing new under the sun, and if we think it’s new then it’s probably just an old heresy revisited.

But, in case you’re interested, here’s the basic outline that I’m thinking of working with:

Sermon 1: The ‘Who’ of Christmas
Text: John 1:1-5

Sometimes we just need to return to the basics. In the hustle and bustle of the busy Christmas we try to find the right gifts for our friends and family we must remember that God has given us the ultimate gift of His son, Jesus Christ.

Sermon 2: The ‘What’ of ChristmasText: Hebrews 2:10-18

In this message we’ll look specifically at what Jesus came to do. In this message, we’ll cover the Incarnation, a brief overview of the life of Christ, and his death and resurrection.

Sermon 3: The ‘Why’ of ChristmasText: 1 John 3:8

Carl F.H. Henry said, “The early church didn’t say, ‘Look what the world has become!’ They said, ‘Look what has come into the world!” 1 John 3:8 clearly says that Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. That’s the ‘why’ of Christmas. So, what does that look like for us? What are the works of the devil and what does it look like for them to be destroyed in our lives and in the world?

I realize that these are not the traditional texts that one may use for their Christmas readings, but I believe that this is the guideline that I’m supposed to use in this advent season. If you like it, feel free to use it.

This wonderful sermon was preached November 21st, 2010 at University Reformed Church in Lansing, Michigan. Please be encouraged by this message about keeping ourselves in the love of God even as God keeps in His love.

Hey Guys,
These are some sermon notes from a message I preached at Newton Springs Full Gospel Church in Hector, Arkansas about a year and a half ago. This isn’t meant to be a transcript just some verses, quotes, and thoughts I jotted down to preach from. You’re welcome to use this for personal or group Bible study, or to even preach from. Just give God the credit for it, since He’s the One who gave it anyway. Soli Deo Gloria!

How Majestic is Your Name
“O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens. [2] Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger. [3] When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; [4] What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? [5] For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. [6] Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: [7] All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; [8] The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas. [9] O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!”

– [Psalms 8:1-9 KJV]

2 Purposes For This Psalm:
1. To Make Us See How Sufficient God is
2. To Make Us See How Insufficient We Are

1. To Make Us See How Sufficient God is“O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.”
– [Psalm 8:1 ESV]

“O LORD, our Lord…” – YAHWEH our Adonai Just in this little fragment of the first verse two big truths are presented. Almighty God is lord of the universe and He is Lord over the Church.

LORD – All caps means Yahweh (I AM WHO I AM, Exodus 3:14).
He is self-sustaining, all powerful, all knowing, all sovereign, king of the Universe. He doesn’t need our help. He doesn’t our opinion. He doesn’t need our input. He is God all by Himself and that’s the end of it.

“When God says I AM WHO I AM, he summons us to humble objectivity. He puts an end to the notion that everybody’s view of God is as good as everybody else’s. God is who he is and nobody’s opinion of him makes any difference. Therefore, our calling as His creatures is to strive to know him for who he is, not for who we would like him to be. ” – John Piper, Sermon: “I AM WHO I AM”

The idols of the Old Testament had to be built and created from the ideas of men by the hands of men, but the very men that created those idols were formed by the hand of the God they denied.

“Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good…But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation.” – [Jeremiah 10:2-5, 10 KJV]

“Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases. Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see. They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell. They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; and they do not make a sound in their throat. Those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them.” – [Psalms 115:3-8 ESV]

“Descend, if you will, into the lowest depths of the ocean, where undisturbed the water sleeps, and the very sand is motionless in unbroken quiet, but the glory of the Lord is there, revealing its excellence in the silent palace of the sea.” – Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David

He is Creator of the Universe (Genesis 1:1; Colossians 1:16)“A state of mind that sees God in everything is evidence of growth in grace and a thankful heart.” – Charles G. Finney

“Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name, by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power not one is missing.” – [Isaiah 40:26 ESV]

He is Sustainer of the Universe (Colossians 1:17)“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. [16] For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. [17] And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” – [Colossians 1:15-17 ESV]

“The meaning is, that they are kept in the present state; their existence, order, and arrangement are continued by his power. If unsupported by him, they would fall into disorder, or sink back to nothing.” – Albert Barnes

Literally, if Christ were not holding the universe together then the earth and all of creation would fall and sink back into the dark abysmal void that it was found in in Genesis 1:2, “The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep…” I am held together in the very same way.

If Christ should take His hand off of me then I would slip back into the dark sin and despair that He found me in, but because He is still holding the world in place I know that He will still hold me in place. He has sealed me to the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30).I cannot hold myself together. I am held together by the fact that Christ holds the universe together and He is Lord over all.

2. How Insufficient We AreWhen I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? – [Psalms 8:3-4 ESV]

God has no reason to be mindful of us because we’ve willingly sinned against him.

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” – [Romans 3:23 ESV]

“Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.” – [Isaiah 59:1-2 ESV]

He doesn’t leave us in a hopeless and helpless state. He sends a Redeemer to save us!

“And a Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,” declares the LORD. “And as for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the LORD: “My Spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring, or out of the mouth of your children’s offspring,” says the LORD, “from this time forth and forevermore.” – [Isaiah 59:20-21 ESV]

CONCLUSION“The only thing of our very own which we contribute to our salvation is the sin which makes it necessary.” – William Temple “We sinned for no reason but an incomprehensible lack of love, and He saved us for no reason but an incomprehensible excess of love.” ― Peter Kreeft, Jesus-Shock

We need Jesus to save us and sustain. We can’t do this ourselves.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” – [Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV]

Our sin has separated us from us from God and we need Him to saturate with His love and His Spirit and bring us into right relationship with Him. We can’t go to church enough. We can’t do enough good works. We can’t knock on enough doors. We can’t sing enough hymns during the congregational singing. Only the grace of God can bring us to life in Him. We need Jesus. It’s that simple.